Now Commenting On:

Reports link Glaus to Florida pharmacy

Glaus, Ankiel linked to pharmacy

By Barry M. Bloom
/
MLB.com |

PHOENIX -- Blue Jays third baseman Troy Glaus was the second Major League Player implicated on Friday for the purchasing of performance-enhancing drugs via the Internet during the 2004 season, SI.com reported.

The news came only hours after Rick Ankiel, the St. Louis pitcher turned hitter, was fingered by the New York Daily News in the two-year-old investigation of Internet performance-enhancing drugs sales by Albany, N.Y., District Attorney David Soares that has resulted in 22 indictments and nine convictions.

Glaus, the 2002 World Series MVP when he played for the Angels, received multiple shipments of Nandrolone -- an anabolic steroid -- and testosterone at an address that corresponds with his California address, SI.com said, quoting anonymous sources. The shipments came from a Florida pharmacy and a California anti-aging clinic.

The shipments reportedly occurred between late 2003 and early 2004, however receipts only show that the substances were sent to the address, SI.com said.

Ankiel, the Daily News reported, received a 12-month supply of human growth hormone in 2004, also from a Florida pharmacy that was part of a national illegal prescription drug-distribution operation

HGH was not on the list of Major League Baseball's banned drugs in 2004, the first season when punitive measures were in place for multiple positive tests. Nandrolone and testosterone, though, were on the list. But it wasn't until the drug policy was renegotiated that a first positive test netted a suspension and the release of a player's name during the 2005 season.

"The accusations made today in the media ... are simply accusations," Godfrey said. "I am in no position to make comment on information that is attributed to an unnamed source."

According to the SI.com report, prescriptions, written in Glaus' name, "were obtained through New Hope Health Center, a California-based anti-aging clinic that advertises the sale of anabolic steroids and human growth hormone on its Web site. The prescription was sent through Signature Pharmacy, an Orlando-based pharmacy targeted by Albany County (N.Y.) prosecutors as part of their steroids investigation."

Signature was also the pharmacy involved in the Ankiel allegations, the Daily News said.

Neither player procured the drugs illegally or have been charged with any crime. It is legal in the U.S. to obtain HGH and a number of anabolic steroids with a prescription.

Many athletes and body builders use HGH for its regenerative qualities with the hope that it will help them recover from injuries quicker. Plus, former U.S. Senator George Mitchell and a committee of lawyers has been investigating the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball for the past 18 months at the behest of Commissioner Bud Selig. Mitchell's report could be released by the end of the year.

Glaus is the third baseball player to be ensnared this year in the Albany investigation.

Back in February, then newly-signed Angels center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. was named in a newspaper report for procuring HGH via the Internet, also during the 2004 season.

Matthews spent more than two weeks investigating his rights in the matter before releasing a written statement at the club's Spring Training base in Tempe, Ariz., saying that he had never taken the drug, "during the 2004 season or any other time."

MLB never attempted to discipline Matthews and Angels officials said they were satisfied with the statement. There have been no other revelations about Matthews since then.

Barry M. Bloom is a national reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.